Which external dvd writer?

[hardwired]

My trusty Pioneer A05 went up in smoke so I need a new writer. Since I am stuck with only a notebook PC for now I need it to be external, either an internal drive in a firewire/usb2.0 enclosure kit or a purchased external drive.

What writers are recommended and should I go with USB2.0 or firewire interface?

I liked the Pioneer and 4x writing but need something inexpensive with the big loss I just took in a fire. Not sure if +R is necessary since 4x -R media worked fine for me cost and reliability-wise, but perhaps things are changing.

I have to go with external hardrives as well, so appreciate any input there as well. The Lacie external drives seem to be priced attractiviely but don't have any experience with them as I tend to stick with western digital internals in the past.

Thanks.

[ofbarea]

If your main computer is a laptop you should take a look at the Nu Tech EDW-042C (http://www.nuniverse.com/1_english/3_products/01_ide.php?pID=13) This drive is very small and light. I have an older model (EDW-242 combo DVD player/CD writer) and it had worked wonderfully with my laptop.

If the size is not a problem, take a look at the following drive:

http://www.compgeeks.com/details.asp?invtid=CDICD00237&cat=DVD. I do not know if the offer is still valid but this burner was sold for $150. It is listed as a $200 item, but when you place the order you should write GEEKDVDEAL in the promotional code field and the price would drop to $150 automatically and you will get a 50 pack of DVD-R media for free.

If you can choose the interface, choose firewire. For the burner, try to get a Dual firewire/USB2 model so you will be able to use anywhere.

or you could look for a cheap internal DVD burner that you could convert to external with the help of a firewire/USB2 case. I did this with my HP DVD200i.

Read the following post with the problems, and solutions, that you may face with USB2 burning https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=181716

I prefer firewire because I never had a problem with it. With external hard disks I always got better performance thorugh firewire interface. USB2 works properly, but It’s slower.

Hoppe this helps.